Students from 160 Nations to Reconvene a Year from Now in Mexico City for the Second Iteration of the FIRST Global Challenge

PRESS RELEASE:-President of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim Underscores the Role of Technology Innovation in International Development.

July 18, 2017-Washington, D.C. – FIRST Global (www.first.global) caps off the three-day robotics competition that saw one high-school team from each of the nearly 160 participating nations compete to address one of the world’s most pressing issues – water security.Accomplished inventor, Dean Kamen founded FIRST Global with the mission to inspire an interest in science and technology development among the 2 billion youth of the world and ensuring that every child has the chance to obtain necessary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills to overcome the greatest challenges our world faces.

The games – aimed at addressing water security – concluded with the Award Ceremony, during which teams were awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals in ten categories – both qualitative and quantitative in nature – highlighting the qualities that FIRST Global aims to inspire in the STEM leaders of tomorrow. The winners (listed below) were selected by an international panel of judges comprised of members of the STEM community who have been part of the FIRST Global Challenge experience from the beginning.

FIRST Global Challenge Award:

Awarded to teams that earn the most match points

Gold: Finland

Silver: Singapore

Bronze: India

FIRST Global Grand Challenge Award

Awarded to teams that accrue the most cumulative points over the course of the competition.

Gold: Team Europe

Silver: Poland

Bronze: Armenia

Zahng Heng Award for Engineering Design

Awarded to teams whose robot exhibits excellent engineering and displays elegance and effectiveness during the Challenge.

Gold: India

Silver: Mali

Bronze: Mexico

Ustad Ahmad Lahori Award for Innovation in Engineering

Awarded to teams that demonstrate creativity and innovation in building their robot to complete an aspect of the Challenge.

Gold: Latvia

Silver: Indonesia

Bronze: Spain

Dr. Mae Jemison Award for International Unity

Awarded to teams that emulate the best qualities of FIRST Global by breaking down barriers, demonstrating Gracious Professionalism, and building bridges with fellow teams.

Gold: Canada

Silver: Australia

Bronze: United Arab Emirates

Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli Award for Courageous Achievement

Awarded to teams that exhibit a “can-do” attitude throughout the Challenge, even under difficult circumstances, or when things do not go as planned.

Gold: South Sudan

Silver: Afghanistan

Bronze: Oman

Francisco Jose de Caldas Award for Sustainable Excellence

Awarded to an individual who helped contribute to strong and sustainableFIRST Global programs.

Gold: South Sudan

Silver: Afghanistan

Bronze: Oman

Sofia Kovalevskaya Award for International Journey

Awarded to teams that documented and shared their FIRST Global experience with the rest of the FIRST Global community

Gold: Nigeria

Silver: France

Bronze: Madagascar

Albert Einstein Award for FIRST Global International Excellence

Awarded to the teams whose robots performed the best during the FIRSTGlobal Challenge and exemplified all of the tenets of the FIRST Global community

Gold: Oceania

Silver: Tunisia

Bronze: Lebanon

Francisco José de Caldas Award for Sustainable Excellence

Awarded to an individual who helped contribute to strong and sustainableFIRST Global programs

Gold: Sue O’Malley (Team Oceania)

Silver: Barbara Glover (African Union)

Bronze: David Levy (AAAS)

As FIRST Global’s guest of honor, President of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim recognized the hard work the competitors put into the competition and encouraged them to pursue careers in STEM so as to secure prosperous livelihoods for all people around the world.

“Every country in the world has to have the opportunity so that its children can rise to become whatever they want including President of the World Bank.”

Drawn from the 14 Grand Challenges of Engineering identified by the United States National Academy of Engineering, water security will take the center stage as this year’s FIRST Global Challenge theme due to its worldwide impact – whether due to severe droughts in Sub Saharan Africa or inefficient plumbing in Europe – and the need to raise awareness about the dangers of neglecting to address this global issue.

To emphasize how imperative finding solutions to these issues is, members of the national engineering academies of the United States, China, and the United Kingdom will attend the 2017FIRST Global Challenge’s Closing Ceremony prior to holding the 3rd Global Grand Challenges Summit on 18-20 July, 2017 at George Washington University in Washington, D,C.

In keeping with FIRST Global’s mission to inspire science and technology leadership and innovation internationally, the FIRST Global Challenge will take place in a different nation each year. FIRST Global Founding Member, renowned entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas, announcedMexico as next year’s host country for the second iteration of the FIRST Global Challenge. The organization wants to empower all young through science and technology and is working earnestly to recruit teams from countries that could not accompany us this year.